Mega Man X: The end of the Mavericks
by Snakemaster43
Summary: Sigma returns again, and corrupts X! What will happen after that? No one truly knows. T rated for violence and later on drama.
1. The Uprising

Mega Man X: A new terror

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mega Man X or Capcom**

Chapter One: The uprising

The sun shone down beautifully on a massive, almost pure white, metal city that sat out in the middle of a desert wasteland filled with the scraps and pieces of old, rusting robots. There was nothing else around for as far as the eye could see. This was...as it was called by the government, the Final Stand. And it was the final stand for mankind as the world knew it. They lived in the city alongside the remnant of the reploids (robots designed to "be" human in every sense of the word), fighting for survival against Mavericks (reploids that have been taken over by a virus and aim to destroy everything).

In the middle of the city, there was a trapezoidal building that was made entirely of reflective glass except for the floors inside. The glass, however, was surrounded a super strong, invisible shielding that made it seem virtually indestructible. This building was home to a group of elite, fighter Reploids called the Maverick Hunters, whose sole purpose was to seek out and destroy Mavericks wherever they were. They had been in existence for nearly a thousand years...ever since the disaster of the Maverick virus struck, and were still going, because the maverick threat was still constant. They had been pushed to the Final Stand after long years of fighting, and were now desperately searching for a means to destroy the Maverick virus at its source. There had been no luck with that...

"Damn it...again?!" X asked the computer that he was at, "You mean that there _is _nothing on that subject? Piece of trash..." he held his fist back from punching the monitor in out of anger and sighed. He was a tall reploid that was completely clothed in blue armor except for his face. He had green eyes and, nowadays, a perpetual almost frown on his face. He had red gem set into the forehead guard on his helmet, and he had a buster arm installed on his right hand. He had been reduced to searching for anything even vaguely related to the Maverick virus, and even then...nothing could be found. It didn't help that the Internet connection that the Maverick Hunters had was trash as well.

His fist flew forward, hitting the desk instead, causing it to crack in that area. He panted out of frustration and anger, and then he stood up and began pacing, not knowing what else to do. Suddenly, a voice asked, "X? You alright in there, bud?"

X turned and said, "Come on in, Zero. I want to talk with you."

His best and perhaps only true friend, Zero, walked in. He was taller and more heavily built than X was, like he had been meant purely for combat. He had red armor on that covered him in nearly the same fashion as X. His armor, however, was bulkier, had square plates on the shoulders, each with an intricate, golden Z on the front and back. His helmet spike upward to some degree, and his helmet also had a long, golden ponytail hanging from it. X almost figured that he was supposed to be a girl the first time he saw him, and was really shocked and embarrassed to find out that he wasn't a girl at all. He had a small pack on his back that acted as scabbard for his energy blade, a green one that activated when he swung.

He walked in and asked, "X? Something wrong?"

X sighed and said, "The computer is jacked, I think. I've been trying to search things on the internet, even for things that I've tried before...no results."

Zero looked at the computer, and asked, "Like...what was one of the things that you've tried searching for?"

"Something on the Maverick Hunters," he replied, "Nothing. There were no results whatsoever."

Zero walked over to the computer and sat down, staring at it. "Computer," he said, "Search for Maverick Hunters over the internet."

The computer complied, but after a moment, it came up with a no results screen. He began chewing on his lower lip, staring at the screen in utter disbelief. He told X, "Odd...very odd..."

X walked over and asked, "What do you think could be the problem? I've tried everything on the computer to make sure my connection was rock solid, and it's still coming up with the error screen."

Zero stood up and said, "I think it might have something to do with the Internet connection here in this city being tampered with or interrupted..."

"Sir!" a reploid called, running into the room. He said, "X, Zero, our satellite communications have just been completely disrupted! We can't patch through to them!"

X looked horrified, and asked, "You can't get _anything_ from the satellites?!"

"Nothing at all, sir!" the replied replied, looking concerned.

Zero suddenly said, "X...I think I know why..." he tapped X on the shoulder and pointed out into the sky. Above the city, directly above it, was a large fleet of ships, all flying the banner of Sigma (the leader of the Mavericks...who is now the embodiment of the virus itself).

"That would be a really good reason why we're having so much trouble...they're disrupting all of our technology, trying to get our attention or something...well, if it's the former, then they've got our full attention!" X nearly shouted, dashing out the door with Zero right behind him, leaving the reploid staring out into the sky.

They raced down to the bottom floor via the escalators and found almost everyone preparing for an assault. X called, "Alright everyone, listen up! We have a whole fleet above us that's flying the Maverick banner! They're doing everything in their power to get our attention, and so they have it! We are going to blow them out of the sky before they can do any true harm! Let's go, Maverick Hunters! Get to work!"

They all began leaving to go small, one-man craft that had been designed for them. X took one, despite having his own custom craft, and flew up to the battle. His hopes were that, by taking this craft, he wasn't going to be immediately be targeted by the guns. The craft began zooming towards the ships, all in attack formation. The guns began firing at the craft, but the Maverick Hunters had all become so good at fighting by this point that they barely broke up the formation at points to simply dodged a shot or two before ducking back into formation. It wasn't long before they were in attack range and split off into groups, co-ordinating a series of attacks all along the huge ships. X and Zero parted and took their groups with them. X was the leader of a five man squad that was dedicated specifically to taking out Sigma himself or whatever leader happened to be in command during that battle. Zero was the leader of a nine man squad devoted entirely to two things. Providing protection and support for X's group, and doing as much damage as possible.

X had his group fly through the resistance and land on the flag ship, though the landing wasn't exactly smooth. They had to ditch the landing gear and skim the surface of the flagship, sliding along it and having sparks fly from the bottom. They skidded to a halt about halfway across the deck and they all got out and began charging towards the bridge to neutralize the leader. In X's group were a lance and blade wielder, and two sharpshooters. He happened to be in between the two, with pinpoint accuracy with his buster gun and extreme skill with a beam sword that he had gotten from Zero in the past. The cannons that were aiming at them were begin shot down by Zero and his group, making it easier for them to get to the bridge, although mavericks tried to block their way. Most of the Mavericks that were farther away were easily picked off by X and the sharpshooters on his team, while any that got close were made quick work out of by the two up-close fighters. X kept count...and by the team they had reached the bridge, twenty in all had been taken out. "Good work, men. Now, let's take out the leader," he told them.

They followed him into the bridge, going up the lift that led to the bridge. Upon arrival, they walked inside to find Vile waiting for them. This caused X to freeze, and he asked, "V-Vile?! How?!"

Vile, a tall reploid with purple armor on, turned towards them. He had a complete helmet on. The T-shaped visor was the only thing allowing him to see. He had a cannon mounted on his shoulder that could fire a variety of different things, though mainly it was a stun shot that it fired. He laughed evilly and asked, "So...X...did you really think that you had gotten rid of me last time?!"

"This is insanity! This is your tenth time coming back!" X yelled, staring in utter disbelief.

"Oh...so that's why you are so shocked? I can tell you why I'm back, but that would be revealing a secret that Sigma didn't want me to reveal," he told him.

X was even more stunned. "S-S-Sigma's back too?!"

"Oh? Perhaps you'd like to meet him, X," he said, motioning towards a tall figure in the back. He walked forward, and something just didn't click in X's mind at first. He was a tall, nine foot reploid with a bald head, a muscular build, a green armor with black leggings and arms...tall, brown boots, and a strange gem set in his foread. He also had purple thunderbolts that were vertical across his eyes, seeming to be tattoos or something. X stared for a moment before it clicked in his mind that something wasn't right.

"We meet again, X! It's been a while...hasn't it?" he asked in a devious tone of voice. He now stood before him, the golden hilt of an unactivated beam sword in his right hand. X aimed his buster arm at him, but that was when he was aware that the two sharpshooters were aiming at him and he looked at the other two right by him to find that they had a slight purple aura around them.

Sigma laughed and said, "Thanks to my new powers, I can make just about anything Maverick by simply being by them!" he then frowned and said, "I still don't get why you haven't been corrupted..."

X looked around him, not really knowing what he was going to do to get out of this situation. He asked, "Sigma...you will stop at nothing, then? You will stop at nothing to make sure that this world is destroyed?!"

"I have stated this before, X. The humans should not exist. They are a blight on this world. We, the Reploids, are superior! Therefore we should be in charge, not the humans!" Sigma nearly shouted, taking a step towards X to try and intimidate him. X stood his ground, staring up at Sigma. He was a good four to five heads shorter than Sigma, but the height difference didn't really matter to X.

X said, "Is that what you really believe, Sigma?! You were created by humans! We were created by humans! They are our creators, and deserve our respect and protection. They aren't a weak race, Sigma!"

Sigma glared down at X, and said, "You are a naïve fool, X. Therefore, you must die."

"Not on my watch!" a voice shouted. A beam saber flashed, and the two sharpshooters fell to the ground, decapitated. One the other two turned, X whipped out the saber on his back and spun in a circle, holding it outward. The two beside him fell, having been cut in half, and then he swung at Sigma, only to find that his sword passed through Sigma. A purple substance leaked into his arm suddenly and a pain shot through it. Sigma stared at it in surprise before beginning to laugh.

Zero had done the same to Vile, and with almost the same results. "X! They're holograms!" he called before looking over at X and staring. "X?" he asked, before realizing what was going on. X collapsed onto the ground, the purple strands spreading up his arm. Sigma simply laughed before vanishing into nothingness. Zero ran forward and grabbed his friend, staring at him horrified. "X! Hold on! I'll get you back!" he cried before leaping out the window with him in tow. That was all X remembered before darkness overtook him.


	2. Maverick or not?

Chapter Two: Maverick or not?

Zero was stressed. His friend, X, had just been called a Maverick by just about everyone in the base, and it was all that he could do to convince them to hold off on those beliefs until they had full proof of this. However, most of the other hunters, especially the trigger happy ones, wanted to tell him otherwise. He could see that look in their eyes that said that they did. He didn't want X being killed, though. He didn't want to believe that X had really gone Maverick.

He walked down to the bay where he was now holding X in a pod, and wondered if he was awake. He walked up to the pod to see X staring at him. Zero gripped his beam saber hilt and pressed a button on the left side of the pod before stepping back. The glass lifted upward and X began to climb out, but Zero said, "X, stay where you are."

Much to his relief, X listened. He asked, "What's going on, Zero? Why am I in the holding pod?"

Zero said, "Well, X, people are beginning to think you're going Maverick. I had to put you down here so that way no one would find you."

X stared at him in disbelief. "Why would they be calling you a Maverick?" he asked dubiously.

Zero said, "X, look at yourself and you'll know why." he had a worried look on his face, knowing that X had a chance to overreact to certain things, including seeing one of his friends go Maverick.

X looked at himself and stared at himself, a horrified expression on his face. "Oh no...wh...what?! What is this?!" he said, his voice becoming higher pitched from fear. His entire body had undergone a drastic transformation. His armor had glowing purple veins going all throughout it. His whole armor had gone darker, and a strange purple aura was around him. Zero could see also that his eyes had gone red.

Zero said, "You've been corrupted by the Maverick virus, X."

X looked up at him, his face still wearing an expression of horror. "No!" he shouted, "I can't be corrupt! I'm still me!"

Zero took a step back from this overreaction. This wasn't anger or sadness that he saw. He was seeing his old friend, the one that he always thought fearless, beginning to panic before him. "X, calm down, you may not be fully corrupted," he calmly said, hoping to calm his friend down.

X, realizing this fact, began to calm himself down. He began to take deep breaths to try to calm himself down. He said, "Zero...what happened? Everyone's trying to attack me now, you're saying?"

"Yes. There are a bunch of them who think that you are Maverick, and have been badgering me about where I put you. One even threatened to kill me if I didn't tell him," he explained, and he saw X's face pale.

"When did this start happening?" he asked before remembering everything that had happened with Sigma. The purple veins going up his arm. He began chewing on his lower lip as he tried to sort all this out in his head.

"I'm sorry that this has to be happening, X," Zero explained.

"No...don't you be sorry. Actually, I think that there might be a few ways that I could make use of this," X said, looking at himself.

Zero looked up and asked, "What do you mean?"

"If I'm Maverick, supposedly, then I could know who was Maverick and who wasn't. This could allow me to find the new Maverick leaders, wouldn't it?" he said, explaining his theory.

Zero looked at him dubiously. "X? Are you sure that would be a good idea?" he asked.

X nodded and said, "Just get me out of this base and I'll help you out in whatever ways that I can."

Zero thought about this, and said, "So you're basically saying that you would know which Reploids are Maverick now because you are partially corrupted by the Maverick virus?"

X nodded, hoping that his friend would believe him at this point. Both stared hard at each other for a moment, and then Zero replied, "Alright, then. We'll also be on the hunt for the Maverick leaders, so keep that in mind. Try and stay away from areas that I designate. Everyone else will attack you on sight, and I can't stop that."

X looked around and asked, "Alright, so how do I get out of here?"

Zero pointed towards a vent and said, "That vent leads right outside. Once you're outside, beam away to any location. From what we've been told, all of the Maverick leaders are here in this city."

X nodded and said, "I'll keep that in mind." He dashed over to the vent and tore the grate off before turning to him and saying, "Thank you, Zero." he crawled into the vent and disappeared. Zero walked out and back up the stairs to find the one hunter that had threatened him earlier standing there.

"Where's that Maverick?!" he asked, aiming a gun at him now.

Zero's eyes narrowed as he glared at him and he angrily said, "Put that gun down or else..."

The hunter simply turned the safety off on the gun and demanded, "Show me to the Maverick! Now!"

Before anyone could blink, Zero's arm had flashed over to the left, and that hunter's gun fell in half. The one began to back, suddenly afraid of Zero, but then he was kicked down the hallway and sent skidding. Zero called down, "Don't you _ever_ threaten me again!" he walked towards the main control room and walked in. Alia (or whatever her name was) looked over and asked, "Zero? What happened?"

Zero walked in and asked, "What happened where? Down the hall? Someone threatened me."

Alia stood up and said, "Down in the basement, the one that you shut off the camera to."

Zero walked in and said, "I found out that X...is partially corrupted. However, his personality and mind remains the same."

Alia looked towards him and asked, "How is that possible? And...are you sure that he's the same as before?"

"Yes. He was horrified to find that he was part Maverick, something that no Maverick that I know does," he replied, sitting down in a chair in front of one of the super computers.

The eyes of everyone there turned towards him in surprise. X being horrified was something that they couldn't possibly imagine. X had always been the fearless leader alongside Zero. Alia was completely shocked. "So...he is okay..." she muttered. She had a secret love towards X that had developed over a long period of time, and she was sure that X had a similar love for her.

Zero sighed and said, "I'm not entirely sure if he is. He seems okay at the moment."

The mention of that "at the moment" put a nameless fear in Alia's heart, though she didn't show that she was afraid. She just nodded and said, "Alright."

Zero said, "Alright, X and I have agreed to work together to take out the Maverick leaders one by one until we find Sigma again. We need to find Sigma and then find a way to ultimately defeat him."

Alia said, "Sir, we've found ingredients to make a perfect anti-virus. We can have our scientists create it while our soldiers take out the Maverick leaders."

Zero looked at her in surprised and asked, "When did this happen?"

"Just a few hours ago," she replied. She was surprised when Zero looked suddenly dubious.

_Something's not right..._he thought to himself, _If we just go them...why did we not get any other warning that we would be receiving it beforehand? Well...I suppose that it won't be anything bad..._

He said, "Alright then. Let's have them start..." he said rather slowly, not sure if this was even a good idea. Or if it was a trap. He had to take a chance.

Alia nodded and replied, "Yes, sir. I'll send them the order right away." she turned and began typing a message on her computer. Zero leaned back in his chair and sighed. This was it. X was partially corrupted and he knew that he probably had a chance of going completely Maverick. They had a chance to end the war, either for the mavericks or for them. The next set of battles was going to be to determine the ultimate victor in the war that had lasted for nearly two centuries by now. But something was still on Zero's mind. Was X truly not Maverick? Or...was he really a Maverick and had tricked them?


End file.
